Headstones Toppled in Jewish Cemetery Halloween Night

Rochester police are investigating the vandalism of the Waad Hakolel cemetery Halloween night.

A neighbor called police after spotting what appeared to be a group of teenagers walking through the property, according to cemetery administrators with the Britton Road Association.

The association was notified of the vandalism by police around 3 a.m. Thursday, when eight headstones were found to be toppled over.

The monuments, weighing up to 500 pounds each, were surrounded with candy wrappers, police confirmed.

“That led us to believe that this was nothing more than a group of individuals walking through the cemetery and eating candy and thinking it would be kind of fun to push over a headstone,” said Britton Road Association President Michael Phillips.

The NYS Division of Cemeteries will be notified of the incident as well as families and a vandalism report will be filed.